Fish proves no match for Djokovic

No one in tennis doubted that a slimmed-down Mardy Fish was better equipped to handle the U.S. Open this year. But against Novak Djokovic, crafty and solid throughout their fourth-round match Monday, Fish needed a bicycle. Or some other external help.

Djokovic ran Fish around Arthur Ashe Stadium and won handily, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. He allowed Fish only four break-point opportunities - Fish converted just one - controlled the match from the baseline and generally fed Fish, 30 pounds lighter than last year, a diet of well-cooked, well-placed shots.

"Sometimes," Fish said, "I sort of get into a rut that it's so much fun for me now, to be able to run down shots and play a little bit of defense, that I do that too much. I tried to be a little more aggressive toward the middle part of the match. But I just didn't execute, generally. He played great. He kicked my butt."

With the end of this Fish story, as the 28-year-old reinvented himself and carried his highest-ever U.S. Open seed (19th) into the fourth round, the narrative now swings to Djokovic. The 23-year-old Serb has been this year's anti-Fish, going about his business with surprisingly little attention for a man ranked No. 3 in the world.

Though he briefly slipped past Roger Federer into the No. 2 spot last month, Djokovic somehow has been seen as a man no longer a threat to break up the Federer-Rafael Nadal power axis. His one major tournament title came more than two years ago - the 2008 Australian Open - and semifinal exits from Flushing Meadows muted championship talk about Djokovic.

Thus, his current Open station has been in marked contrast to 2007, when he showed off his spot-on imitations of fellow pros and displaying a tennis game good enough to be runner-up to Federer - a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 winner last night over Austria's Jurgen Melzer.

Some mysterious breathing difficulties during matches earlier this summer made him appear vulnerable, and he almost didn't survive his first Open match, scrambling from a two sets-to-one deficit against his good friend and fellow Serb Viktor Troicki.

"To be honest," Djokovic said, "I'm not making a clear judgment about comparisons of me in 2007 or 2008 and now. I was a 19-, 20-year-old kid who just didn't care much about pressure or anything and didn't know what's pressure and expectations. Just hitting the ball, being very aggressive and open-minded and just playing great game.

"I think a lot of us wish to have this kind of attitude on the court and not thinking about some things, which at the present moment I have to deal with. But on the other hand, the positives today are that I have more experience, I'm stronger, I have played so many matches on the big stage."

Fish, meanwhile, is determined to come up with some new goals. "Just off the top of my head," he said, "I'd love to make it into the top 10."

Time to recycle.